Gears of War 3: We don't know if 3D will be around forever

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Gears of War 3 will be the first game in the hugely successful Xbox 360 franchise to adopt a stereoscopic 3D mode. The technology used will be of the side-by-side variety as Microsoft is yet to implement PS3-style full 3D, so that means a loss of horizontal resolution, but fans with 3D TVs will no doubt be jumping at the news, and is a massive boost to the stereoscopic technology's chance of becoming mainstream.

However, while he advocates its use in Gears 3, the game's executive producer, Rod Fergusson, is unconvinced that 3D will be a de facto video format in the future.

Speaking exclusively to Pocket-lint during a one-to-one chat, Epic Games' Fergusson explained that it is currently impossible to tell whether the technology will be a success or not:

"I think it’s interesting because I think it’s something that people are curious about. But, I don’t think we’ve hit the tipping point or the critical mass yet where we know that it’s going to be something that’s going to be there forever in the future," he said.

Reservations aside though, he was keen to have 3D as one of Gears 3's stand-out features because it's something that the fans would expect. Additionally, Fergusson believes that its adoption on one of the biggest games of the year, might even help the format gain wider appeal:

"Like with Gears 1, where we were trying to help the HD revolution back then, I felt like this is something we can support. And we would be looking like we were deficient if we didn’t support it, so it was a logical step," he said.

3D or no, Gears of War 3 is the biggest game of the series, in size, depth and gameplay options, and it will be out on 20 September for the Xbox 360.